This Bannerlord mod basically adds a mobile phone to the game

It can be difficult tracking down important characters in Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord. You have to check the encyclopedia for their last known whereabouts, ride to whichever city or town they were last seen near, then check for an update in case they've moved elsewhere—and very few characters stay put for long. It can take ages to get in touch.

Who needs the old-timey, analog hassle of tracking down someone and talking to them in person? The Telepathy Mod lets you use Bannerlord's encyclopedia as a contact list and push a button to call any character in the game. A few seconds later, no matter where they are in the world, you'll be connected. It's more reliable than AT&T. Calradia, welcome to the cellular age.

You can see it in action above. While riding around, I open the encyclopedia, find the listing for Rhagaea, Leader of the Southern Empire, and click the mod's 'Call to talk' button. Then I resume riding around until she picks up my call.

Then you just talk as if you're face to face, conduct diplomacy, advance a quest, or chat about whatever you want. I even called my infant child who is currently being held in an enemy-controlled castle. Hi, kiddo! Daddy will be there to free you as soon as I'm done trading sheep and replacing all the soldiers I lost when I got my ass kicked by your captors.

One small word of advice: don't call yourself. I tried it, and it results in an existential crisis, because I did actually pick up my medieval phone and answer my own call.

"Aye? I don't think I know you," I said to myself as I swung my head back and forth trying to find myself in the air around me. To my soldiers, it must have looked like I was talking to a tree.

"Peace to you, stranger." I kept looking around, trying to figure out who was talking to me, even though it was me—and really, aren't we all trying to connect with ourselves? (Also, it locked up the game and I had to restart.)

Chris has a love-hate relationship with survival games and an unhealthy fascination with the inner lives of NPCs. He's also a fan of offbeat simulation games, mods, and ignoring stories in RPGs so he can make up his own.